This invention relates to the design of speaker systems and more particularly, to such speakers operated in cross-phase.
Heretofore, twin speakers within the same housing have had a common polarity and direction to avoid cancellation losses. Stereo loudspeaker pairs were likewise connected in matched polarity. The resulting sound within the listening zone formed a pattern of impinging compression waves. A point sound source recorded in stereo and played back through conventional matched loudspeakers, has a double impression when perceived in binaural hearing. The double impression reduces the clarity of the sound. The impression from the left speaker registers first on the left ear and then on the right ear. The impression from the right speaker registers first on the right ear and then on the left ear. The result is four discrete registrations of the point source instead of the two originally recorded. The delay between corresponding registrations is caused by the ear spacing. Cross-phasing the stereo speakers places one set of impressions into the rarification portion of the sound cycle during the same period in which the other set of impressions is in the compression portion of the cycle. The cross-phasing reduces the apparent impact on the ear of the presence of the two sets of impressions, resulting in improved transient clarity.